We've all found ourselves at one point or another staring in fascination at a busking mime or a talented street musician.In recent years, busking, the term for performing in public places usually for money from the crowd, has grown into an organized art form complete with professional networks, associations and showcase festivals around the world.

Here in the United States, cities such as Miami, San Francisco, New York and New Orleans have become known for their thriving busking scenes.

Take Maria for instance. A longtime busker in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Maria acts as a human statue, completely still, covered in metallic gold paint and dressed in a matching antique wedding gown. While one may think Maria, often referred to as the Jilted Bride, just stands there doing nothing, her motionless presence...

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(CAPE TOWN) Buskers and street-performers are busy celebrating City Hall's decision to legalize performing in Cape Town.The South African city made news earlier this year when blind busker Lunga Nono was beaten by metro police for busking in St. George's Mall.

Charges against the busker have recently been dropped in favor of new legislation. Nono's guitar was broken in the melee which took place in front of his family and onlooking tourists. A music shop donated a new guitar to Nono who has filed a lawsuit.

Now that the city has come to it's senses about the performing artists and tourism, just about anything goes. This includes street musicians, acrobats, clowning, comedy, contortions, dance, singing, fire skills, mime, living statues, music performance, puppeteering, storytelling, poetry, painting,...

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(WWW) eBay.com has pages of busker memorabilia available for listening and home decor. Add to your collection of records, vintage photos, art, sculpture, statues, books, playing cards, mime, articles, collages, bell ringers, figurines, stories, and just about anything else you can think of.Notable items include the Cambridge Buskers, Stars of the Streets, the Busker's Album, and the Beale Street Buskers. Some news articles go back as far as 1919.

Keep in mind thaat the some records are outdated 45's and lp's that will need a turntable to play.

The photo featured here is a pre-war busker in Newport, Rhode Island and is listed for $5000!

Click the link below for some amazing items.

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Hard-working busker Derek Allan is about to embark on his toughest gig yet - playing 10 sets of 10 hours in 10 different venues.The singer-songwriter’s fundraising efforts will see him play for 10 consecutive nights as he pulls out all the stops to help Grace House Hospice Appeal to reach its latest target.

And not content with that, he is issuing a universal offer of help to any small charities or individuals who need a helping hand getting together the money they need.

Derek, 34, from Red Row in Northumberland, first came to the attention of Journal readers when he performed seven consecutive 12-hour gigs in seven different Northumberland pubs, with no backing group.

The exertion left Derek, who suffers from epilepsy, exhausted and he almost fainted several times during the g...

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(ENGLAND) Busker and supply teacher Phil Gray was happily busking away when a passerby casually took the hat off Gray's head and disappeared.It all seemed to be a joke until the grim reality set in. The hat was gone - never to be returned.

Fortunately, an audience member was shooting a video with his cell phone of Gray performing when the incident occurred.

Gray claims the creep who stole his hat had talked with him several times earlier in the day.

In the video, you actually see the crime committed. The thief was later picked up but no hat was to be found.

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